Birthday Wishes
by lexa.mac
Summary: One girl wakes up the morning after her birthday party, only to realise she can't remember her night.
1. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimer: I own nothing.

Story: Birthday Wishes

Prologue: Starting it off with a bang

I woke up with a start, pain radiating throughout my entire body and the running of the bulls taking place in my head. I took quick stock of my body: Fingers? Check. Toes? Check. Virginity? Hmm, seem to have misplaced that.

I sat up gingerly, feeling tender everywhere. Muscles I never knew about were suddenly making their presence known, and they weren't happy campers. I smiled, or at the very least grimaced less, when I saw the tall glass of water and the pain killers on the night stand. My Casanova was gone, but at least he hadn't quite bolted without any thought to me.

I look around the room as I wait for the pain killers to kick in. Medium, nondescript, as if anything of personal value had been removed, which I know it had been. The only real indication of who used to live here being the several posters of semi naked women and one single poster with a motorcycle on it. I knew this room well; I should given how much time I'd spent here.

I slowly walk over to the dresser against the wall, pausing in my quest for clothing only to glare at the bottles of Jack and Rum on top. Pulling on a pair of his shorts and a t-shirt, I'm sure I look ridiculous, swimming in my outfit, but I don't care. It's my standard sleepwear when I crash here, so no questions would be asked. Besides, it still looks better than my little black dress, crumpled and discarded in the corner at some point during the night.

I sneak down the hallway to the bathroom, hearing at least one person downstairs in the kitchen. I try to tidy myself up, post drunken sex is not a look I wear well. My brown hair is the messiest I've ever seen it and I'm practically crying as I try to brush out all the knots. I brush my teeth three times before I feel like my mouth is even close to clean, thanking God that there are always multitudes of extra tooth brushes kept here. As I stare into my grey eyes tinged red, it slowly starts to sink in.

I had had sex. I was no longer a virgin. Thanks to a drunken one night stand, I had made years of waiting pointless. I wasn't waiting for marriage, or my true love, but... I was waiting for something. Maybe if I'd known what exactly I was waiting for, I would have been hyper ventilating in someone else's bathroom years ago. Maybe, just maybe, I would have at least been able to remember it.

I try to pull myself together; I can freak out once I get home. For now, I have to pretend that all is well and go downstairs to enjoy the breakfast I know is waiting for me. I can come to terms later with the fact that I'd lost my virginity to the guy who's always been like an older brother to me, a best friend. I may have always had a slight crush on him, but I never expected anything to happen. I was never more than slightly annoyed at the multitude of women he'd openly been with. Later I could come to terms with how I'd spent my first few hours of my newest year. For now, I had breakfast.

As I started down the stairs, it hit me.

Holy shit.

I'd had sex.

With Jax Teller.

Happy birthday to me.


	2. Chapter 2

Birthday Wishes

Chapter 1

**Standard disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"Morning Princess," I hear as I step into the kitchen, Auntie Gemma behind the stove making birthday pancakes. "How're you feeling?" She asks with an air of sympathy.

"Um, okay..." I trail off, unsure of why she seems sympathetic, birthdays are usually a happy thing here.

She laughs, "Jax told me what you two were up to last night after you disappeared." Terror. Complete and utter terror. My body stiffened and I could feel my temperature drop, and it must have shown on my face, because Auntie chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't tell your mom."

I hadn't even thought of my mom's reaction. Saying she wouldn't be pleased would be an understatement. She cannot find out. Ever. "How come you don't seem upset?" I ask hesitantly, afraid to jinx it.

"I think it's a great idea, finding out your limits with someone you trust before you go out and do something you'll regret." She answers as a plate of pancakes and strawberries is placed before me, our birthday breakfast tradition. "Now eat up, it'll help with the hangover. Do you feel up to birthday shopping or do you want a rain check?" Relief floods through me, realizing that she only knows about the drinking, though a sick part of me wants to utter 'too late' to the doing some I'll regret comment.

"No rain check" I mumble out as I start stuffing food in my mouth, "Tradition," I offer in way of explanation. I keep eating, forgetting my worries as I get lost in the pleasure of eating my favourite meal of the year.

After breakfast I run back home, just next door, to clean up and get ready for the day. I walk through the house quietly, knowing my mother had worked the night before, looking for some sign that she might be joining us this year. Nothing. I try to repress the stabbing pain in my heart , telling myself I hadn't expected this year to be any different. My mother works hard and does her best to be a good mother, making sure I have everything I need. It doesn't help; there's no reason why she couldn't take the day or night off from work.

I trudge upstairs, straight to the bathroom for a shower. I turn the water up as high as I can stand, and let it fall over my aching body, not moving. I try to work through the events of the previous night, but it's all too hazy.

As usual, everyone from the MC had been a Gemma's, this was, after all, a royal birthday. Gemma had thrown a joint birthday party for Jax and me since my first year. Our birthdays only being three days apart, it made sense. I was close to the first generation members, they had been my father's brothers, his best friends, Uncle John especially. When Daddy died, all of my "uncles" stepped up, taking a more active role in my life, but Uncle John had practically adopted me. I was the daughter Auntie Gemma always wanted, but never got, and with my mother always working, Gemma really did become like a mother to me. So I truly did enjoy the excuse to get together with all the "old men"for a cookout. The younger generation was another story though. It's not that I didn't like them or that I feared them or anything. I simply wasn't a people person. Big crowds of people I didn't know made me uncomfortable. So when I started to feel a little overwhelmed by all the noise, I had gone inside to the kitchen to grab a soft drink from the fridge and enjoy a bit of quiet.

I had been sitting at the table, eyes closed, when I heard the patio door slide open. I kept my eyes closed hoping that whoever came in would simply not notice me, or take the hint and leave me alone. No such luck. "You okay, Princess?" I didn't have to open my eyes to know it was Jax. His voice was soothing, and I'd fallen asleep listening to it several times over the years.

"Yeah, just recharging my batteries." I said with a small smile. I only opened my eyes when I heard the chair scrape against the floor as he dragged it back to take a seat. He was wearing his usual jeans and thsirt as he sat there, almost sprawled over the chair.

He stared at me intently like he'd never seen me dressed up and in makeup. Come to think of it, maybe he never had. I'd never been much of a girly-girl, which is to be expected when my heroes were all gruff motorcycle club members. Tonight I'd gone all out, makeup, hair, manicure, tight short dress, high heels. I felt a bit silly, but I wanted to be seen as an adult. I'd gotten a few comments on my looks tonight, but I couldn't help but feel like they weren't quite sincere, like everyone was simply being nice to me because they knew I was trying.

"So how does it feel to be legal?" Jax broke the silence with a whisper. A variation on the question, how does it feel to be one year older? I shrug, feeling a bit morose due to trying to over analyze everyone's reaction to my new look and not wanting to get into it. He grinned suddenly, putting an end to the funk I was falling into in a way that only he could manage, and I knew what was coming before he'd even asked. "What do you want for your birthday?" Another one of many birthday traditions. A game we'd played for years.

I faked shock and hurt, "You mean, you haven't gotten me anything yet?" He just stuck his tongue out in response and I faked having to think about an answer. I knew he was expecting me to say I wanted a unicorn, it had been my answer for the last three years, so it took him by surprise when I said, utterly sure of myself, "I want to get shit faced."

Jax had started cracking up, "There's a party going on outside, why not get drunk out there?"

I looked slightly embarrassed, "You know me; I'm a control freak who over analyzes everything. I don't think I'd be able to relax enough in a crowd to try something new and unknown, something that requires a complete loss of control. My friends at school are already planing a night of bar hopping to celebrate my birthday when we get back, and it's already got me on pins and needles."

"That pretty little head of yours thinks to much." He says seriously, and all I can do is give him a sheepish smile. It's true. He lets out a heavy sigh, "Like the roller coasters?" he asks.

I smile a little, he gets it. "Exactly."

"Alright, come with me." He tells me as he stands and starts to head deeper into the house, stopping to grab a few beers from the fridge. "Grab some more," he instructs me.

"It doesn't have to be now," I try to protest, even while grabbing the beers he'd told me to get.

"Nah, no time like the present, like this you can't talk yourself out of it anyways." He knows me too well, it's almost scary.

I nearly scream as the cold water hits me, I'd been standing in the shower working through the haze that is last night for too long. I quickly rinse my hair and jump out of the shower. We definitely need a larger hot water tank. I quickly towel off and do my hair, wanting to get dry and warm as quickly as possible. I push myself to straighten my hair instead of simply drying it and putting it up into a pony tail. If I wanted people to take me more seriously, I'd have to put more effort it, it;'s only natural.

I agonized over what to wear, though I'm not sure why, it was simply shopping with Gemma. I decided on a long brown asymmetrical skirt, beige sleeveless top and some flat strappy sandals. The skirt and shirt would be easy to take off and put back on as I tried on clothes, the sandals may not be the greatest for that, but at least they'd be comfortable to walk in. I took forever to apply the tiny bit of makeup I wanted, unsure in every single thing I did, but the end result seemed okay.

Feeling both good about myself and how I looked, as well as unsure about how I looked because it felt so foreign, I headed over to Auntie Gemma's for a day of shopping and spoiling.

**Author's notes**

**First up, I'm sorry it took so long to get this out. Life and work have been incredibly busy after some bombshells were dropped and I've had very little spare time recently. I had been planing to get out one chapter a week, but my husband wound up "kidnapping" me last week during my writing time. I will do my best to get at least one chapter up a week from now on, though I can't guarantee anything until work calms down.**

**I also have to apologize for how short this is. I had originally intended for this chapter to be longer, but I really wanted to post something this week and this seemed like a natural stopping point. I am already working on chapter two though.**

**Thank you for all the reviews and all the "follows." Given how short the prologue was, and how little it gave away, I was not expecting anything. I realize that the main character's name hasn't been said yet, but I will clear this up now, it's not Tara. I usually hate putting in original characters, but I absolutely hate all the possibilities for Jax on the show. Sorry.**


End file.
